The Bomber Guard
by EchoEternal
Summary: When enemies of the past return to Planet Bomber, Bomberman will put a stop to them once more! (Follows the story from the N64 era.)
1. Past Blasters

**Author: Before we begin, fair warning: this story will contain major spoilers to Bomberman 64, Bomberman 64: The Second Attack, and Bomberman Hero. If you would like to avoid those, turn back. Otherwise, read on!**

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><p>Planet Bomber, a lush blue and green planet with a pink moon, orbited quietly through space, as a black and gray ship silently approached. Inside the ship, lights were dimly lit, with various devices running with soft humming noises and beeping on occasion. Standing in a wide room, a round, light blue, human-like figure walked up to a large window, trailed by a purple and red cape.<p>

"There it is," observed the blue figure. "Still standing after all these years. And still dealing with those fools they left in charge of it."

A door swept open and the figure turned as two others entered. One was a black and purple armored knight-like fellow, the other similarly armored, but in white and gold. Each had their face obscured by a helmet, with the former covered by a gold helm that coated all but his red eyes, and the latter wearing a lifted golden helm and a white visor that stood over his blue eyes. Upon approaching the blue figure, they bowed and knelt to the ground.

"Sire," came the voice of the black one. "We've approached Planet Bomber."

"He can already see that, fool," snapped the white one. "Shall we go forth, sir?"

"Not you two. Not yet," murmured the blue figure. Clearing his throat, he pointed to the black knight. "Altair, if she is ready, you will send her to deliver the message."

"Of course, sire," Altair nodded. "After that, though…?"

"You and Sirius still have work to do," coughed the blue figure, brushing a long gray beard from beneath his face. "Get to it. If we hope to succeed, we need to make sure this plan works." He adjusted the monocle over his left eye and pointed them back out the door.

"As you command," Sirius calmly spoke as he stood up, "Master Bagura."

Both Sirius and Altair bowed to Bagura before they exited from the room, leaving their leader to his thoughts.

"Something strikes me off about those two," muttered Bagura to himself. "But they're necessary pieces to my plan." He looked back out the window and over to Planet Bomber. "They will see my ways soon enough."

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><p>On Planet Bomber itself, a figure in a white helmet and a blue outfit rolled away from the fires of an explosion. He grabbed the ground with his pink-gloved hand and pulled himself to a stop. Around him was a metal and brick walled labyrinth, with an open, yet out of reach, ceiling, and a green floor.<p>

"Not bad," he chuckled to himself and looked up. A blue blur sped from down the maze toward him, launching a red bomb from a slight distance.

"You're toast, Bomberman!" came a shout as the red bomb landed near the white and blue fellow.

"Not yet," called Bomberman as he raced around a corner before the explosion went off, blasting apart a few brick walls on either side of its detonation.

Peering out from behind a metal wall, Bomberman watched as the blue armored figure slowed to a halt and looked around. A gold visor stood over his dark eyes, sitting almost like hair that poked from beneath the pointed blue hood. An orange scarf flapped below his mask, from the breeze of the explosion's aftermath, giving the figure an appearance of a ninja.

"Come on out, Bomberman," yelled the blue ninja. "I've got you beat this time!"

Lighting a black bomb fuse and holding it for a moment, Bomberman laughed. "Sorry Nitros," he called out and tossed the bomb around the corner. Nitros whirled around to see a the bomb as it plopped down on the floor behind him and burst, firing out a line of flames at the ninja bomber. He shouted as he flew back, charred by the fire, and collapsed to the ground.

"Training Session: Complete," voiced a computerized announcer.

"And that's the game," Bomberman laughed and gave a thumbs up.

The labyrinth suddenly vanished into a blue wireframe lighting, which slowly disintegrated soon after. Left were the two bombers and a bare white room.

Nitros pushed off the floor, sitting back on his knees. "I failed…again," he sighed.

"Nah, you're still learning," Bomberman corrected as he walked over to the ninja and extended a hand. "Honestly, you're getting much better at this stuff."

"Really?" asked an unconvinced Nitros.

"Sure! You're a great trainee," Bomberman complimented, and scratched the underside of his helmet, where his chin would be. "In fact, you're beginning to remind me of when you were scary good."

Nitros shuddered. "Can you not remind me of that? Being an empty puppet for someone else was not what I had in mind when they said they could help with my training." He took Bomberman's hand, which lifted him up from the ground.

"Those days are behind you," soothed Bomberman. Then, he teased, "Although, not too far, considering that I'm still blasting you to bits!"

Nitros chuckled. "Yeah, you got me there."

The two stepped out of the white room, into another one filled with computer devices. A Black Bomberman waved from behind a control room window and Bomberman waved back to him.

"I haven't beaten him yet, either," sighed Nitros.

"You'll get there," Bomberman assured. "Trust me, this stuff takes time. Becoming a professional Bomber Guard takes practice and learning how to protect the planet is no easy task."

"I understand," nodded Nitros. "But I really want to be able to help out soon! And maybe going out and exploring the solar system sometime! And meeting new creatures and other kinds of bombers! And—"

"Yikes, Nitros, take it easy," chuckled Bomberman. "One step at a time. It's not like the world will end in the next few seconds."

Abruptly, a siren sounded and red lights began flashing around the room. Nitros and Bomberman exchanged looks before running to the elevator. Bomberman hit a button and the elevator rose, headed up to the surface level.

"Trouble," monitored Nitros. "They must think you're away or something."

"I doubt it," murmured Bomberman. "They're just looking to cause trouble regardless of who's standing in their way."

With a buzz to sound its arrival, the elevator doors opened. "Time to find out who 'they' are," called Nitros. Bomberman nodded and the two ran out, rushing past the beige lobby and to the outdoors of the base, skidding to a halt on the dirt and gravel path they stood on.

A crackling noise erupted from both sides. Bomberman looked left and right, noticing the fires that lit the trees outside the base.

"Bomberman, look!"

Nitros pointed forward and Bomberman gazed in the direction. A red and orange armored figure stood before them, keeping the legs together in a feminine manner, with one hand turned at the waist. Her yellow and red helmet resembled both hair and fire, which stood above her black visor that shrouded her pink eyes. She had one hand outstretched holding a fireball.

"Remember me, Bomberman?" cooed the red knight before them.

"Uh, give me a minute," pondered Bomberman. Nitros stifled a laugh while the red knight growled, causing her fireball to flare up. Snapping his fingers, Bomberman shouted, "Artemis of the Masked Trio!"

"Fantastic to see that I am remembered…somehow," grumbled Artemis.

"Hey, I face a lot of bad guys," countered Bomberman. "And a lot of them use fire or bombs of some kind."

"Fair enough," huffed Artemis.

She nonchalantly tossed the fireball at Bomberman and Nitros, who jumped away as it blasted. Artemis created two more fireballs from each hand, firing the first at Nitros, which sailed right over his shoulder and nearly singed him. Tossing the second one back and forth, she pitched it to Bomberman. The fireball split into three smaller flames, speeding out in different directions. Watching them separate, Bomberman carefully stepped in between the path of two fireballs, and narrowly managed to avoid getting hit.

"Won't you just burn already?" Artemis complained to Bomberman, before tossing another fireball at Nitros without even looking.

"Now what fun would that be?" Bomberman mocked her, lighting a black bomb and throwing it at her. She leaped away from it, only to be hit be a red bomb from Nitros.

Stunned from the hit, the blast knocked her backward. "Ugh! Impudent little fool!" shrieked Artemis as she tossed a few bombs and fireballs at Nitros. A black bomb rolled beside her and blasted her back again.

"Give up, Artemis," Bomberman laughed. "I don't know how you're alive, but coming here was a mistake. You can give up now or I'll have to end this the hard way."

"I don't know the meaning of surrender," yelled Artemis.

"Well, you tried," Nitros reassured his ally.

Bomberman picked up a bomb and began to charge it, as did Nitros. Before the two could launch the bombs at Artemis, a green force field jutted from around her and pushed the two back. Tossing the bombs away, the two looked back to find a green and gold knight standing alongside Artemis. His gold visor shadowed his white mask and green eyes. Adorned on his green helmet were two white and yellow, wing shaped devices. One large, X-shaped plate rested over his armor, with a red light that shined and faded with the force field.

"I had this handled, Orion!" snapped Artemis as the green knight turned to her.

Nitros tried to run forward, but Orion threw a bomb at him, forcing him to retreat.

"We need to go," whispered Orion. "You've held them here for long enough."

Reluctantly, Artemis nodded and charged a fireball. It expanded in size, growing almost as large as her body. She threw it forward, as it burst in front of Bomberman and Nitros. The flames surrounded the area in front of them, obscuring their path and view enough to force the heroes watch their opponents as they fled.

When the fire cleared, Bomberman took a good view of the surrounding area, which included burnt grass, charred and chopped tree trunks, and a dried up pond. With a sigh, he turned to Nitros, who nursed minor burns.

"Well, that pretty awful," muttered Nitros. "Just who were those two, anyway?"

"Zombies," joked Bomberman. More gravely, he continued, "They were enemies from a past journey of mine. They forced me to duel them to the death, and I won."

"Uh, they didn't look very dead to me," teased Nitros.

Bomberman nodded. "No, which isn't good news." A beeping noise sounded and Bomberman pulled out a small yellow device.

From it, an old man's alarmed voice sounded, "Bomberman, is everything all right? I received word that Bomber Base was under attack."

"It was, Dr. Ein," Bomberman answered. "By some old enemies of mine."

"That's not good," murmured Dr. Ein.

"It gets worse: they're supposed to be dead," explained Bomberman.

"Hmm, that is quite troublesome," observed Dr. Ein. "We've received word that the Elemental Stones were almost stolen, but things appear to have calmed down about that. However, there are more attacks like this popping up across the solar system. We need to you figure out what's going on and put a stop to this, Bomberman!"

"Right, I'm on it," reassured Bomberman. "I'll take the mini-ship over to the station."

"Good to hear," Dr. Ein sounded. "I've also called in a couple of friends to help you out, and they should be here soon. Come as soon as you can!"

"Will do," responded Bomberman and put the device away.

"Need any back up?" a hopeful Nitros asked.

"Well…there is room in the mini-ship for two people," Bomberman pondered. "So, sure thing, you might as well start helping the planet by helping me!"

"Yes! Great," cheered Nitros, and then more seriously added, "I won't let you down!"

Bomberman laughed, "You better not!"

The two raced off to the airstrip behind the base. There, they found a small white rocket ship, and quickly boarded it. Bomberman started the mini-ship and launched it from the strip and into the air, and shortly after, space.

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><p>...<p>

Author: Ok, there's the first bit of the story. If you don't know, the characters in this story are from the older games on the N64 and Wii Virtual Console.

For the main heroes, I decided on Bomberman (the series protagonist / P1 in Battle modes) and Nitros (brainwashed villain in Bomberman Hero). I tried making Bomberman more of an experienced hero, but one that keeps a more upbeat, playful attitude, which kind of follows the Cheerful White personality he's sometimes given. Nitros never had a chance to be a protagonist, so I wanted to give him a shot at heroics. According to the aftermath of Hero, Nitros is meant to be a trainee at the Bomber Base (who just happened to be on a ridiculous power trip via brainwashing). So, I tried making him a little more naïve and eager to follow in Bomberman's footsteps. There are three more main heroes that will join them, two that will show up next chapter with Dr. Ein.

With villains, I wanted to start with the main evil threats from Bomberman 64, who were a small group, but pretty fun and clearly underutilized. Sirius and Altair seem like the types that are begrudgingly working together. Artemis likes causing trouble and is sort of arrogant. Orion is the good little grunt that follows orders. Bagura, also known as Bagular and several other translated names (which is the only reason I stuck with the Japanese name), is going to be the main threat, since he's the most common recurring archenemy. There will be a few other villains as well, and not just nameless grunts that serve as cannon fodder for Bomberman and friends. They're chasing the Elemental Stones from The Second Attack because unrevealed reasons (no spoilers for you).

It's a bit of a rocky start, but I'm hoping to create a Bomberman story that meshes some of the series together. As of writing, Hudson Soft is no longer a company, and Konami hasn't announced any plans for Bomberman, so the series is dormant. Hopefully it will come back to life, but while we're waiting, I thought this could be a good read. I don't think I can grab stuff from every corner of a Bomberman game, but I'll try to tie it altogether. It's hard since there is no specific canon, but I'll manage and fiddle with it as I go. Anyway, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!


	2. The Gathering

**Author: Once again, there will be spoilers in this story. If you haven't played through Bomberman 64, Bomberman Hero, Bomberman 64: The Second Attack, or Bomberman Tournament, you might want to avoid this. Otherwise, read on!**

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><p>Slowly moving through space, the mini-ship sailed away from Planet Bomber. Nitros watched the planet they left behind, and then looked to the stars scattered all around. For a moment, the ninja bomber's head began to sting, and Nitros thought he saw a black and gray ship near the planet's pink natural satellite, Bomber Star. He winced, squeezed his eyes shut, and opened them again. Nothing was there.<p>

Bomberman had glanced back and observed his teammate's behavior. Tempering his concern, he playfully asked, "Hey, Nitros, you're not _spacing out_ on me, are you?"

"You're hilarious," Nitros deadpanned. "And no, I'm not." Still, he kept his attention focused on Bomber Star a little longer.

Presently, the mini-ship approached a blue and white space station. Navigating their ship into the hangar, the two waited until the gates closed and exited the mini-ship. Strolling down the halls, Nitros gazed around, searching for something to clue him in on the location or people more. However, the walls were bare, with only a window every so often. He sighed, and continued to trudge after Bomberman, who kept a tunnel vision on the path ahead of them.

"Guess you've been here before," Nitros finally spoke out.

Bomberman lifted his head, and then nodded. "Yep, Ein works up here when he's not in the Bomber Base labs."

"What does he work on, anyway?" Nitros asked.

"I think the better question might be, 'What doesn't he work on?'" Bomberman chuckled. "He works on a ton of things, to the point where most people just stop trying to keep track of everything."

Nitros wondered if that might be dangerous, and thought of addressing it. Before he could, Bomberman stopped in front of a door with a window, leading into a lab. They looked in and watched as a man in a white lab coat and spiky gray-white hair ran around from computers to deskwork to vials of various glowing substances.

"Should we…enter…or no?" questioned Nitros, with a hint of concern in his tone.

Bomberman pointed up at a lit sign above the door that read, "Testing in Progress. Please Wait." Nitros nodded and went back to watching the man run around the room. When he turned, the ninja bomber could notice his swirl covered glasses and a mustache across his top lip. His red tie was loosely hung around his neck and seemed to fly around in the opposite direction that the scientist ran, as it flapped wildly against his lavender shirt.

"That…that's Dr. Ein, right?" Nitros inquired.

"Yep," came Bomberman's casual response, undeterred by the experiments underway.

Dr. Ein typed quickly at the computer, but then bashed the table next to him. A small pink ball-shaped creature with floppy ears, which had brown tips on the ends of them, bounced over to help him. It put a hand on the computer and emitted a small electric jolt. Ein scratched his chin and continued to type away. The pink critter turned around, and glanced at the test vials, which appeared to be overflowing. Alarmed, it tugged at Ein's lab coat, but the doctor failed to take notice. The pink fellow ran for the door, and opened it to run out by Bomberman and Nitros.

"Myu mew!" the critter cried out. "That doctor is crazy!"

"He sure seems it," Nitros agreed. The creature spun around and began to emit electricity again.

"Who are you?!" it squeaked, in a failed attempt to sound more frightening.

"Relax Pommy," laughed Bomberman. "That's Nitros, and he's with me."

Pommy's expression immediately calmed and turned to face Bomberman. "Is that really you, Bomberman?! It's been a while!" it cheered.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I've been busier than I expected," explained Bomberman.

"She sure seems happy to see you," Nitros observed.

Annoyed, Pommy spun back around and glared at Nitros. "She?! Pommy isn't a girl! Pommy is a boy!"

"O-Oh," stammered Nitros. "Sorry, I-I just thought…well, your voice was high, so—"

An explosion sounded in the lab. Pommy jumped and scurried back inside. Bomberman and Nitros followed, but Dr. Ein grabbed Pommy and shoved the two Bombers out.

"No, no," he coughed. "It's too dangerous to be in here now, boys." He entered a key code on a nearby monitor and sealed the door shut. "Phew. I'd hate for any of you to be caught in there."

"Dr. Ein, you're out of your mind!" Pommy scolded the doctor. "Pommy tried to warn you about the chemicals, but you just wouldn't listen!"

"Right, my apologies," Dr. Ein spoke with a leveled voice, unfazed by Pommy's spiked temper. He shifted his attention to Bomberman right after. "Ah, it's good to see you again, Bomberman. Glad you could come so quickly."

"Well, Bomber Base was attacked, so I made sure not to mess around," joked Bomberman.

The doctor grabbed his hair. "Right, yes, we need to get to work on that!" he rushed off, but stopped short when he realized the others weren't right behind him. "Come on, follow me! Hurry now!"

With an exchange of looks, the trio ran after Dr. Ein. Bomberman and Nitros caught up easily, since they were taller and leaner than Ein. Pommy also managed to catch up as they rounded another corner, and ran quicker than the taller crowd around him. Eventually, they reached a room with a long, clear table that had several seats around it and a large computer at the end of the room. Dr. Ein stopped to catch his breath while the other three waited.

"You…youngsters…are in way better shape…than me…" the doctor panted.

"They have to be; they're busy actually fighting the bad guys," teased Pommy. "Or maybe Dr. Ein is just really that out of shape."

"Quiet…you!" Dr. Ein snapped at Pommy. "Bomberman, please take a seat. And, um, other Bomber—"

"Nitros," introduced the ninja clad Bomber.

"He's a trainee that I took with me," clarified Bomberman.

"Ah, of course," nodded Ein. "Good chance for some experience. Hopefully this won't prove to be too dangerous."

"I-I can handle it!" insisted Nitros.

"We'll see," Dr. Ein returned. "Please, sit. You too, Pommy." Under his breath, Ein muttered, "Though I doubt you'll be doing much right away."

"Mew myu! Pommy heard that!" yelled the pink critter.

Dr. Ein fiddled with a few controls at a desk in the corner of the room while the two Bombers took their seats. They waited while Ein prepared the computers.

"What's all this for, anyway?" asked Nitros, as the large computer screen became littered with various documents and reports, as well as several pictures. Two included Ein out for drinks with a few other workers, to which Ein quickly closed. "Well, besides those two."

"These," Dr. Ein explained, "are the reports that we've received around our solar system. It appears that there have been several disturbances from these folk." He pointed at a picture of Orion and Artemis, who stood next to another figure clad in blue armor with yellow, black, and white accent marks. "Well, the red and green ones have. This blue one, I haven't seen or heard anything about."

"His name is Regulus," clarified Bomberman. "He used to work with those two, as a team known as 'The Masked Trio,' but after I defeated them, he operated on his own. It's been a while since we met, but he's not interested in terrorizing anyone."

"What does he want?" asked Nitros.

"To challenge me," answered Bomberman. "He was annoyed that I bested him. Twice. Which means he's looking to face off against me again. He has helped me out before, though, so maybe he could help us out against these two."

"Really Bomberman?" sounded a low voice from the other end of the room. "You just go around and recruit the guys that threaten you? And yet, Dr. Ein chastises me for doing things my way."

The group directed their attention back to the door, which was open. In walked a fellow clad in black armor from head to toe, with a red cape that trailed behind him. The eyepieces on his helmet were blue, and the center of the helmet had spikes that resembled a long Mohawk. In between the eyepieces and spikes were two fainter windows that made it appear that the man had computers for brains. He wore a silver belt and one silver, almost metallic, wrist cuffs. His right glove matched his wrists, while his left glove was black and matched the rest of the suit.

"Hello to you too, Max," greeted Bomberman, still cheerful. "It's been a while."

"It has," came Max's dour response. Mockingly, he added, "Why don't you call me anymore?"

"Because somehow you'll make it into a competition rather than just to hang out," teased Bomberman. "Come to think of it, you're kind of like Regulus, with that huge competitive streak the two of you share."

"Comparing _me_ to a criminal? Come on, Bomberman; I'd do a better job blowing you to bits," joked Max, though by his more serious tone, it was hard for anyone aside from Bomberman to notice.

"Max, I didn't ask you here to test your skills against Bomberman's," snapped an annoyed Dr. Ein. "Sit, and listen to the rest."

"Your intel just says that these guys surfaced on a bunch of planets and caused various misdemeanors," explained Max. "It's got nothing on them that will give us more. Bomberman's apparently faced off against them before, and from what you said earlier, he supposedly killed them. If that's the case, someone else brought them back from the grave and now they're off to cause trouble. There was a threat on the Elemental Stones, but nothing else happened so far. You've got nothing more to add to that, so you're basically reassessing the situation to us, of which we're all already aware of."

The others stared at Max and sat quietly for a moment as he took a seat, and lifted his black boots onto the table. "Pommy didn't know all of that," called out Pommy, as cheerful as Bomberman. "Pommy just knows that Bomberman came by today!"

"Right, just for a social call," muttered Max, to which Pommy stuck out his tongue.

"Well, this isn't just for reviewing facts, Max," Dr. Ein stated as he regained his composure. "We also need a strategy to counter—"

"You want a strategy? Send Bomberman and I after them," demanded Max. "We'll get answers from them, or take them out if need be."

"It's the last part that worries me," Dr. Ein murmured. "We need to learn more about these two, hopefully without killing them."

"Right," mocked Max. "Because they'll be eager to help us out after we capture them and interrogate them on who brought them back to life." He paused for a moment before he added, "And that's assuming they even know what's going on, or if they're just working for a boss that they've never met."

"Or they could be mind controlled zombies," offered Bomberman.

"That's…actually plausible," admitted Max. "Doubtful, but possible."

"Ooh, my oh my," cooed another voice from the door, distinctly more feminine. "Was that Max giving someone else a chance at knowing what's going on?"

Everyone gazed over again to find a pink Bomber waiting at the door. Her helmet, like Bomberman's, only showed her eyes, and also had a large golden heart on the top of it. She wore pink armor, with a light skirt below a white belt and her top. Her arms and legs were bare, though her hands and feet were covered with pink gloves and red boots.

"Speaking of devils," scoffed Max as he swung his legs from the table. "Here's the Dastardly princess herself, Pretty Bomber."

She huffed, "Oh, please! Will you ever get over that? Yes, I caused some trouble—"

"_Some_ trouble?!" snapped Max. "You endangered Phantarion and worked with the Bomber that made me his mind puppet! You've tried to kill Bomberman and countless others on numerous occasions! Why you're even here is beyond me."

"I _reformed_," insisted Pretty Bomber. "You can ask White Bomber; we've worked together and helped _save_ lives on numerous occasions as well."

"Really? None that I'm aware of," Max continued. "You couldn't have been that helpful, I'd imagine."

"Oh, grow up," spat Pretty Bomber.

"Enough," commanded Dr. Ein. "Pretty Bomber is a useful asset and will be working with you on this mission. Aside from that, we'll need every able Bomber that we can get to work with us. You three are the most skilled trio that I could contact."

Nitros sank down in his seat, and remained quiet; he had realized that things had gone a bit over his level for a while, but felt crushed at the lack of acknowledgment.

Bomberman had noticed this and added, "Trio and a trainee! Nitros can help us out with this mission." He winked as Nitros scooted back up in the seat.

"Yes, of course," Dr. Ein continued. "It's up to the four of you to stop this Masked Trio…uh, Duo, and bring them in."

"White Bomber, dear," Pretty called out, her voice now calmer. "Who did these Masked fiends work for?"

"Um, a guy named Altair," Bomberman explained. "He stole a device known as the Omni Cube from another bad guy named Sirius, looking to take over the universe. After I helped stop them, Sirius killed him and tried to destroy Planet Bomber. I managed to stop him with help from Regulus, the blue guy on screen."

"Mm," nodded Pretty Bomber. "Quite the adventure. And now they're back somehow. This should be quite interesting!"

"Astounding observations," deadpanned Max. "We hadn't already figured it out."

Pretty glared at Max, who seemed to match her glare, though with his helmet covering his face, it was difficult for anyone else to tell.

"All right, relax you guys," Bomberman broke in. "We need to figure out where we should begin searching for answers. We could start with—"

An alarm suddenly sounded from across the station. The group rose from their chairs and looked up. The siren went off with a buzz in between each ring.

"That's the alarm for Planet Bomber," Ein clarified. "The Bomber Base is under attack again!"

"Perfect, that'll be our cue," nodded Bomberman. "Max, did you bring your ship?"

"You mean that ugly thing that looks like his oversized helmet?" asked Pretty Bomber. "How could you miss it?"

"Wasn't exactly paying that much attention to the hangar," admitted Bomberman. "It has room for all four of us, right?"

"It might be a bit tight, but yeah," confirmed Max.

"All right, Dr. Ein," directed Bomberman, "set my ship to auto-pilot. If we need it for anything, we can call it in. For now, we'll take Max's to the Bomber Base."

"Will do," agreed Dr. Ein. "Hurry off, and good luck to you!"

The four Bombers nodded and ran back to the hangar. Pommy watched them, with a worried expression in his eyes.

"Mew myu…Pommy hopes they'll be ok," murmured Pommy.

"Perhaps you should go gather your Charabom friends," suggested Dr. Ein. "They'll need you later on."

Pommy glanced up at him for a moment. His face became more determined and he nodded, running off to do so. Dr. Ein watched him leave, but then returned his attention to the computer screen. He went over to the controls and began to search through the files.

"Altair and Sirius," he muttered to himself, as he searched over the files.

Meanwhile, the quartet of Bombers reached the hangar, and rushed over to Max's red and black ship. Pretty Bomber was correct; although clearly a ship, it resembled Max's helmet, with two large green-tinted windows in place of the eyepieces and computer screens. The front opened and Max took the pilot's seat while the others scrambled into the back.

"It's kind of tight," noted Nitros.

"Kind of?" snapped Pretty Bomber. "Max, you call this room for four?!"

"Those seats were recently installed, and not for grouchy passengers like you," scoffed Max. "Now buckle up and hang on; we've got a base to save."

The ship sealed up and rocketed out of the hangar as soon as the gates opened. It sped through space, racing back to Planet Bomber.

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><p>...<p>

Author: Ok, there's the next part, and now for some cast establishment:

For those that don't know, Pretty Bomber was one of five members of the Dastardly Bombers, and originally started as an enemy to Bomberman. In later games, she is sometimes known as Cute Pink and is one of Bomberman's friends, and possibly a love interest. She's a bit of a flirt in the games, but I'll try to beyond that here; after all, she does appear quite often, so there should be more to her than "girl Bomberman," I think.

Max is an ally of Bomberman's from several games, introduced on the Gameboy Color's "Bomberman Max," and is usually competing with Bomberman to see who could do a better job at saving the day. In an anime released in Japan, known as Bomberman Jetters, Max is an android that appears an antagonist. They're two different takes on the same character, so if you only know about the anime, he started as a hero and that's why he's a good guy here. Actually, it might be more surprising for the game players to learn that Max was a bad guy for the show, which he's never been in the games, so that. Anyway, he can be a bit of a jerk, but he's friendly enough with his rival, Bomberman. With enemies, probably less so, which is why he does things his way.

Pommy is a Charabom (basically Pokemon-like critters that have special powers over bombs/items) and Bomberman's sidekick in The Second Attack, as well as helping out in a few other games. He'll pop up later, along with other Charbom, so I figured I'd explain that now. He has his own style of speech, which I tried to carry forward in the story, speaking in third person and with mews and myus. Dr. Ein is the scientist guy who assigns Bomberman a good number of missions and helps out in the games a lot; I think most people know him.

After these, there's just one other major character to introduce, Regulus, who we'll learn more about later. That's all for now, though, so we'll see what happens next time. The plot's a little sluggish, but it'll roll together by the next chapter. Anyway, thanks again for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed it!


	3. Bomber Base Battle

**Author: Ok, you should be aware of the spoilers by this point, so we can just get right into this. Read and enjoy!**

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><p>Max's mini-ship soared through the airs of Planet Bomber, and flew down toward the Bomber Base. Sighs of damage were visible along the surrounding area outside of the base, with small pits of charred land scattered around the nearby grassland. The ship was too high up to identify the small figures fighting one another below.<p>

"It's not looking good down there," murmured Max. "Poor folks…"

"Do you want to know what doesn't look good?" questioned Pretty Bomber, innocently at first. Then, with a heavy spike of rage, added: "THE THREE OF US CRAMMED IN THE BACK, DEALING WITH YOUR LOUSY FLYING."

"I told you to buckle up," chastised Max.

"WE ARE BUCKLED!" screamed Pretty Bomber. "Ooh, Max, you idiot! Quit being dour or depressing over everything and just land this stupid jet so we can blast the enemies out of the atmosphere!"

"Should've installed the eject mechanisms when I had the chance," muttered Max.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing. Closing in now."

* * *

><p>Altair made his way to the front of the ship. Once he opened the door, he was surprised to already find Sirius inside with Bagura.<p>

"Sire," Altair bowed and knelt to the ground.

"What is it, Altair?" asked Bagura.

"My troops have arrived on Planet Bomber and are commencing the attack against the Bomber Base," reported Altair. Sirius snickered, to which Altair raised his head. "And just what are you laughing at?"

"You, fool," Sirius managed between laughs. "My minions were already there and engaged the base. If yours are just arriving, they're much too late to pose a threat."

Altair struggled to withhold a gasp. "Y-You lying snake! You gave me this time to launch our assault! How dare—?"

"How dare _I_?" interrupted Sirius. "Oh, no, no, no. How dare _you_ try to pin this on me? It's not my fault if I'm prepared at any time to start an attack, while you dawdle over such trivial things like 'opportune moments.' The only one you can blame is yourself."

"Sirius, you conniving—"

"Enough," cut in Bagura. "Sirius has a fair point, Altair. You should have had your troops prepped to strike at the drop of a bomb."

"…Apologies, Master Bagura," Altair relented and dropped his head.

Bagura nodded. "However," he added and turned on Sirius, "communication is also a key component for any reliable system to prosper. By playing mind games with Altair, you could jeopardize an _entire mission_, Sirius."

Sirius looked taken aback, and bowed down himself. "I did not think of that, Master Bagura. You have my apologies as well."

"Yes, fine," Bagura waved the two off. "Now go, make sure the next phase is started."

"At your command, Master Bagura," Sirius responded and left with Altair.

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><p>The red and black mini-ship touched down on the airstrip and slowly came to a halt. As it opened, the four Bombers squeezed out and leapt from the ship to the ground.<p>

Nitros stretched himself out. "Ahh, I can feel my legs again."

"I'm still waiting for one of you to actually thank me for the free ride," spat Max.

"You did good, Max, but we've got a ways to go," ordered Bomberman. "Everyone, protect the Bomber Base at all costs!"

Quickly, the quartet ran around to the front of the base, and watched as four card-shaped soldiers attacked the base's weakened Bombers.

"Rainbow Palace soldiers…guess Sirius is back and in on this too," observed Bomberman. "There's a Spade Knight, a Diamond Soldier, a Club Fighter, and even a Heart King. Full house."

"Any special ways to proceed, White Bomber?" asked Pretty Bomber.

"Um…don't get stabbed and blow them to bits?"

"The usual, then," Pretty nodded. "Got it!"

An indigo card soldier that carried two javelins halted in front of the four Bombers. It then fired a long beam at them.

"Scatter!" shouted Max and the quartet jumped away from the attack.

Bomberman recovered quickly and tossed a bomb at the Spade Knight. It blew the card enemy away, but didn't defeat it.

Meanwhile, Pretty Bomber readied a pink heart-shaped bomb to launch against the green card enemy, the Club Fighter. It spun its dual-headed spear around and reared for an attack of its own.

"Come on, sweetie, step right up," taunted Pretty Bomber.

Just as she launched her bomb, it was deflected away by a black bomb with a lightning bolt on it. Both bombs exploded away from the Club Fighter, who nearly swiped at Pretty with its spear.

"What do you think you're doing?!" thundered Max. "I had it!"

"Excuse you," snapped Pretty Bomber, "it attacked me, I was engaged to fight!"

The Club Fighter took this opportunity to hit Pretty Bomber with the flat side of its blade, and sent her flying into Max. After a tumble, the two slammed into the ground hard.

"This is on you," blamed Max.

"What?!" cried Pretty Bomber.

Bomberman turned to find the two quarreling near him. "Guys, focus!"

Just as he got the words out, an indigo beam struck him, and sent him flying back. The Indigo Knight stepped forward, and readied to attack again.

"You know what? Take the Club Fighter," Max waved off Pretty as he stood up. "This guy is mine."

"Like you actually know what you're doing," huffed Pretty Bomber.

"If you really want to know," offered Max, as he prepped another bomb, "watch and see."

Meanwhile, Bomberman landed by Nitros, who held a red bomb, struggled to fend off both the pinkish red Heart King and the yellow-orange Diamond Soldier.

"Bomberman!" cried Nitros and ran over to him. "Are you all right?"

The white Bomber slowly lifted himself off of the ground, and blankly stared at Nitros.

"Uh, Nitros?" Bomberman pointed at the still-lit bomb that Nitros held.

"Wha…yikes!" Quickly, Nitros tossed the bomb away, which happened to blow up near the Heart King. The red card enemy was fired away and disintegrated. A small heart floated away where it once stood.

Nitros blinked as Bomberman pat his back and complimented him, "Nice shot!"

"Thanks…I guess?" Nitros scratched the back of his head. Suddenly, the Diamond Soldier slid up behind him.

Bomberman's eyes widened. "Nitros! Watch—"

The ninja bomber turned just as a shield was rammed it down hard against Nitros. His head spun as Nitros flopped to the floor.

Slowly, the Diamond Soldier lifted its lance, to which Bomberman tossed a bomb right as it came down. The attack backfired on the Diamond Soldier, who was blasted away.

"Now you're finished," warned Bomberman as he lifted out another bomb.

Abruptly, a missile whistled through the air and blew up behind Bomberman, who was knocked off balance and tossed his bomb away. He looked up to see a purple clad, robotic soldier stand a short distance away, missile launcher raised.

A loud, electrical crack sounded and Bomberman glanced over to see Max whiz across the air.

Pretty Bomber launched a heart-shaped bomb at his attacker, a similar soldier, and this one coated in green and with a rifle-looking blaster.

Three more such soldiers ran up, two near the purple soldier, and one near the green one. The late arrival duo consisted of a red dressed soldier with pincers for hands and a blue clad one with axe blades around its hands. Over by the green one was a yellow suited soldier with a pickaxe in hand.

"Bomberman…?" Pretty Bomber nervously called out.

"These are Altair's Troopers," responded Bomberman. "Looks like they're with Sirius and his goons."

Another missile was launched at Bomberman, who scooped up Nitros and jumped away. The Diamond Soldier rushed over and joined the trio of troopers.

The green clad trooper fired another blast at Pretty Bomber, who rolled away. This gave the Spade Knight and the Club Fighter a chance to regroup with their two allies as well.

Bomberman landed near Max, who struggled to push himself up from the ground. He placed Nitros down, who slowly came to, just as Pretty Bomber popped up near the three.

The Bomber squad looked around them to find the eight enemies had gathered around them in tight circle, and closed in slowly.

"Well, this could have gone much better," muttered Pretty Bomber, as she raised another heart-shaped bomb.

Bomberman followed, and raised a bomb of his. "Just try to take as many down and brace yourselves," he cautioned his friends.

A low-pitched birdcall unexpectedly rang out. The yellow trooper turned to see a shadowy bird-shaped figure soar directly at him, and went right through its chest. Circuits flared and the trooper exploded.

Everyone turned to gaze around for the source of the attack. Another one whizzed down from the sky, and struck the green trooper, who short-circuited and exploded in a similar manner to its yellow companion.

Looking skyward, the Bombers and their enemies stared at the top of Bomber Base. On the tip of the base's replica Bomber's helmet stood a full armored, blue figure. A dark visor was lowered over his face, with a white accent attached on the left side of the helmet. A v-shaped yellow accent was on the front of his outfit, and he had a pair of black boots. A small black jetpack was noticeable on his back.

"Who is that?" wondered Nitros.

"Regulus," answered Bomberman.

The Bomber in question lifted his black-gloved hands up and charged a shadow sphere in them. A wave of purple darkness flowed around him as a bird-shaped creature appeared.

Hastily, the purple trooper launched a missile at Regulus, who let the shadowy bird loose. It soared straight through the missile and caused it to prematurely detonate.

Bomberman lifted a bomb up. "Everyone! Together!"

He tossed his bomb, which exploded and knocked away the Spade Knight and fried the red trooper.

Max followed up on the attack and threw his bomb, which burst a white wave out and sent the Club Fighter skyward and ripped through the purple trooper.

"I call that a _true_ 'Thunder Bomb,'" he touted.

Pretty Bomber dodged as the blue trooper swiped at her with its axes. She launched her bomb at it, which blasted it away in a cloud of pink glitter.

"…Seriously?" deadpanned Max as his arms dropped.

"What? You're just jealous that you can't pull off anything that cute," taunted Pretty Bomber. "Pretty Bombs are above your level."

Static sounded as the blue trooper short-circuited from the dusty cloud. Max stared blankly and Pretty Bomber let out a light laugh.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that it burns _and_ zaps?" she cooed. "My mistake."

Nitros tossed a red bomb, which sailed over the red trooper. It readied a pincer to attack him when the bomb blew up from behind it and blast the trooper to bits.

"That's…totally how I planned it," Nitros pumped a fist and shifted his eyes around to make sure no one had watched.

The Diamond Soldier appeared behind the ninja Bomber again, but a black bomb burst and burned the card enemy away. Nitros turned to see Bomberman pull his arm back from his launched bomb.

"Thanks, Bomberman!" he called out and Bomberman nodded.

Regulus used his jetpack and flew down to the ground by the downed card enemies that remained.

Annoyed, the Club Fighter swiped and spun its dual-headed spear around at Regulus, who leapt and flipped away from each swing. Meanwhile, the Spade Knight had charged another beam and let it rip out after the speedy Bomber.

Calmly, Regulus jumped away just as the beam came close, and it pierced the Club Fighter. He launched another shadowy bird-like creature, which flew into the stunned Club Fighter and blew it up in a dark cloud.

Bomberman threw one last bomb at the Spade Knight, which burst upon impact and disintegrated the final card enemy.

Each of the Bombers surveyed the area for any additional enemies, but found none. Slowly, they relaxed from their battle.

"Phew! Thanks for your help, Regulus," laughed Bomberman.

"Think nothing of it. After all, I'll be the one to defeat you before all others," reminded Regulus.

"Wow, arrogant much?" quietly muttered Max.

"Oh, look who's talking!" Pretty Bomber exclaimed.

"I caught wind that the Masked Trio was sighted and recently launched a new attack on Planet Bomber," explained Regulus. "Shame that they're squandering their second lease on life."

"Do you happen to know why?" inquired Bomberman.

Regulus shook his head. "Last I checked, they were dead and I returned to Astral Knights…or rather, the Elemental Knights." He clenched his fist. "The fact that Altair would stoop low enough to work with Sirius, the very monster that killed him…it's perplexing to learn."

"Join the disappointed and annoyed club," sponsored Nitros. "We'll get matching uniforms next week."

A light chuckle escaped from Regulus, which he then attempted to cover up with a cough. "Yes, well…there is no helping them."

"But if you're so bitter about battling Bomberman," pondered Pretty Bomber, "why would you help us?"

"The last threat that Sirius issued involved universal destruction, starting with Planet Bomber," recalled Regulus. "I'd rather not tempt fate and have that maniac rise back into power over my petty…uh, well-merited grudges."

"Can we get that in writing?" joked Bomberman to which Regulus folded his arms and turned away.

"You guys realize that we need to work together on this stuff, right?" questioned Nitros to the other four.

A beeping noise sounded and Bomberman pulled out his communicator.

"What is it, Dr. Ein?" asked Bomberman.

"Bad news, I'm afraid," the doctor gravely began. "It turns out that the attacks against Bomber Base were diversions to keep you all distracted. I've just received a report that the Elemental Stones were stolen."

"Oh, that's bad," murmured Regulus.

"I thought you had them on each of the knights when we last parted ways," remembered Bomberman.

"We tried to be clever and hide them away," clarified Regulus. "Clearly a mistake."

"So now what should we do?" pondered Max.

"Recover the Stones, of course," stated Pretty Bomber.

"Do we have any leads?" inquired Bomberman.

"Nothing strong, but there appears to be a disturbance going on with Primus Star," reported Dr. Ein. "You and the others should check it out. If an Elemental Stone is there, retrieve it at all costs."

"What happens if we can't?" wondered Nitros. "What will they do?"

"Well, last time," calmly explained Regulus, "a demon possessed one space pirate and wanted to bring darkness to the universe, quarreled with a goddess that possessed another space pirate, and united together to form an angel that was bent on restarting the universe from scratch, all of which was possible by collecting the Stones." He paused as the other four stared at him for a minute. "Oh, and Bomberman saved the day."

"…And not one bit of that is exaggerated, is it?" questioned Nitros.

"Well, that was more or less it, in a nutshell," answered Bomberman.

"Then you'll want to prevent that," sounded Dr. Ein. "I've sent your ship back to help with transportation, Bomberman. The five of you need to get to Primus Star at once! I'll speak with Black Bomber about treating the wounded near the base."

"Got it, Dr. Ein," responded Bomberman and closed the communicator. He then turned to his friends. "All right, so there's room for only two on my ship—"

"Dibs," called Pretty Bomber. "And aren't you just so lucky, Bomberman?"

"Um, s-sure," nervously chuckled Bomberman.

"And I've got the crook and the newbie," observed Max.

"Hey!" cried Nitros and opened his mouth to argue, but realized that Max had a point and stayed quiet.

"I'm sorry, have we met?" questioned Regulus.

"Nope, I make a habit of avoiding criminals," explained Max. "Unless I'm handling them personally."

"Right, because I'm sure you're just full of devout righteousness," mocked Regulus.

"Everyone, come on," ordered Bomberman. "We need to work together to stop the Masked Trio, and Sirius, from gathering those Stones. More importantly, Primus Star needs our help, so let's get going!"

Grudgingly, the other four nodded and ran off with Bomberman to board the mini-ships.

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><p>...<p>

Phew! Stuff happened! Hopefully it was cool, action-esque, and fun enough for everyone. (I enjoyed it, ha-ha!)

So, Regulus of Bomberman 64, also known as Bulzeeb in Bomberman 64: The Second Attack, is a two-time rival of Bomberman's. Originally, he worked with the Masked Trio in the first game to obtain power, but ended up working with Bomberman to stop Sirius from destroying everything by the end of the game. The sequel reveals that he was/is a member of the Astral Knights, brainwashed villains that work with a demon-possessed space pirate to take over the universe. (I had him explain the rest in the story.)

While Regulus does have a bitter grudge against Bomberman for getting in his way, he does respect the hero and wants to defeat him in single combat. The extent of that defeat isn't really specified, so it's not really known if he'd kill Bomberman as well, but I wouldn't bet on it. In fact, he's far more friendly by the end of TAS. Being one of the Elemental Knights (uncorrupted Astral Knights), Regulus has powers over Darkness, one of seven elements in total. The extent of his powers will be explained more in the next chapter, along with the Elemental Stones.

The Card Soldiers are enemies that Sirius employs against Bomberman in Bomberman 64, whereas the Troopers that Altair sends out are his. There's nothing that really indicates that any are human, so I interpreted the former as literal cards, and the latter as robotic henchmen. At first, I had considered using the classic balloon enemies (called Baroms?) of the series, but decided that it would make more sense if the bad guys stuck with their already given henchmen.

Primus Star is a planet used in Bomberman Hero, and is the second planet the player visits, after Planet Bomber. More will be included on it in the next chapter. Speaking of, I've blabbered too much as it is, so that'll end around here. The story gained some momentum finally, hooray! If you can or would like, please drop me a message or review, comments and criticism welcome. Thank you once again for reading!


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